African students in Van to help eathquake victims

A group of African university students arrived in Turkey's eastern province of Van to help victims of a recent massive earthquake. VAN (AA) - November 7, 2011 - Kenan Gurbuz - A groups of African university students arrived in Turkey's eastern province of Van to help victims of a recent massive earthquake. Van was hit by an earthquake measuring 7.2 on Richter scale on October 23. 601 people were killed and 4,152 others were wounded in the quake. 188 people were pulled alive out of the debris. Turkey has been helping African countries which are facing with one of the worst droughts in the past 60 years. Tens of thousands of people were displaced due to the humanitarian situation in the region. A group of African students, who are studying in Turkish universities, arrived in Ercis town of Van, and brought humanitarian aid to quake victims. The students said that they were representing nearly 2,000 African students who were studying in Istanbul, adding that they came to help people in Van as soon as they heard the quake. The African students visited quake victims staying in tents, and distributed meat and aid to them. Eid al-Adha (Feast of Sacrifice) is an important religious holiday celebrated by Muslims worldwide to commemorate the willingness of Abraham (Ibrahim) to sacrifice his son Ishmael (Isma'il) as an act of obedience to God, before God intervened to provide him with a ram to sacrifice instead. The meat is divided into three parts. The family retains one third of the share; another third is given to relatives, friends and neighbors; and the other third is given to the poor and needy.